Delhi: Small intestine infected by black fungus found in patients at city hospital, doctors say 'rare' cases

Two patients at a leading private facility here both of whom had tested positive for Covid1919 were diagnosed with Mucormycosis in the small intestine which the doctors termed as rare casesMucormycosis or black fungus most commonly involves rhinoorbitalcerebral system or the lungs Intestinal or GI mucormycosis is very rare disease and most commonly involves stomach or large intestine according to doctors at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital hereA 56yearold Delhi resident who had lost three of his family members including his wife to Covid19 had barely completed the last rites of his wife when he experienced pain in his abdomen He had tested positive for coronavirus along with his wife and had been experiencing mild symptoms initially the hospital said in a statementAlso read Explained Why Covid19 patients are vulnerable to mucormycosis or black fungus causes symptoms preventionHis abdominal pain was considered gastritis or stressrelated and selfmedication for acidity was done which delayed proper treatment by three days it saidHe was finally evaluated in the Covid19 emergency of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital by Dr Ushast Dhir senior consultant in the department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation it saidThe CT scan revealed that the first part of his small intestine or jejunum had perforated His Covid19 ailment also had worsened by now requiring ventilator support The patient was admitted and taken up urgently for surgery hospital authorities saidUlceration of jejunum in the patient raised my suspicion of fungal disease and the patient was immediately started on antifungal treatment We sent the portion of removed intestine for biopsy the doctor saidIn another case a 68yearold man who was happy to know that his father had recovered from Covid19 started having mild abdominal pain He was a diabetic and had received steroids for treatment of Covid19 The patient had no associated fever and pain was very mild His clinical examination also did not show any signs of intestinal perforation the statement saidBut high index of suspicion lead Dr Piyush Ranjan senior consultant of medical gastroenterology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to get an urgent CT scan of the patient The CT scan revealed small intestinal perforation similar to the first one it addedThe biopsy confirmed our worst fear of mucormycosis of small intestine in both patients Both these patients had Covid19 and had diabetes but only one of them had received steroids the hospital said in the statementBoth these patients were operated by Dhir who revealed that these patient had similar intraoperative findings where jejunum had outpouchings called diverticula and these diverticula had perforated along with surrounding ulceration it saidThese patients in majority are immunecompromised Majority of gastrointestinal mucormycosis is seen in organ transplant recipients The cases treated at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital were unique as they had Covid19 and small intestine instead of stomachcolon was involved in both cases the statement saidGI mucormycosis is rare and the patient presents with vague abdominal symptoms In recent times history of Covid19 exposure along with treatment with steroids should warrant an early CT scan of abdomen doctors saidOver 60 cases of black fungus have been reported at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital till date amid the second wave of the pandemic a senior official saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever